Consistent with our systematic approach to developing collaborations between researchers and research institutions, the Seattle TREC Developmental Research Program Core will integrate additional investigators into a transdisciplinary team exploring the mechanisms linking energy balance and carcinogenesis using basic cellular and animal models, as well as studies on humans. The primary goal of the developmental research program is to establish collaborations with scientists across the TREC community to develop and implement new research ideas while providing resources for new scientists to focus on these transdisciplinary areas of research. The tools of molecular biology, physical activity and nutrition behavior change, and novel laboratory research on metabolomics and a new serum apoptosis marker are emphasized in the Developmental Research Program Core. The Seattle TREC center proposal is a transdisciplinary research program that involves clinicians, laboratory scientists and public-health scientists from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (FHCRC), the University of Washington (UW), and Colorado State University. As described in the Leadership and Administration Core, a transdisciplinary group of senior leaders is available to interact with each other on a variety of substantive committees - one of which is to evaluate developmental research studies and guide decision making on the prospective use of stored specimens or the collection of prospective specimens needed to conduct these studies, in collaboration with the TREC Steering Committee. In recognition of rapidly changing technology and new and novel applications of such technology for research, as well as the need to identify obesity prevention methods with wide public-health applicability, approximately $180,000 - 250,000 will be available each year in the Seattle TREC Center Developmental Research Program Core budget. The Developmental Research Program Core incorporates a system for seeking and evaluating developmental research study applications, a plan for obtaining progress reports for projects to be funded in the future, and presents two projects that will be initiated next year if funding is available, and two additional concepts for consideration for future years.